Solidariteitsboodschap van NXP uit de Filipijnen

Naar aanleiding van de nominatie van de 24 NXP vakbondsafgevaardigden, heeft de Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines haar dankbaarheid geuit naar ons platform. Hieronder vindt u het dankwoord.

"On behalf of the officers and members of the Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines, we express our warmest solidarity greetings to the Belgian campaign Stop the Killings. We commend the international spirit of our Belgian brothers and sisters exemplified in this important campaign that calls for an end to the killings and other human rights violations in Colombia, Guatemala and the Philippines.

MWAP expresses its heartfelt thanks to the nomination received by the NXP 24 in the 2nd Human Rights Defender of the Year in the Stop the Killings platform. The union in NXP Cabuyao is an affiliate of MWAP.

The 24 officers, as well as the whole union of NXP Cabuyao Philippines, are very honored and humbled to learn that their fight against union-busting, for the right to have better wages and benefits for the workers, and for the right to regular employment for contractual workers, were recognized in the international community and particularly in this important campaign.

Twenty-four union officers were illegally dismissed by NXP Cabuyao Philippines in the 5th of May this year in an effort to bust their union that has existed for 33 years. The union is one of the very few ones existing in the country’s export processing zones which is considered a “no -union, no-strike” territory. After nearly five months of intense struggle, the fight in NXP ended victoriously. Twelve officers were reinstated and the remaining 12 were given decent separation packages. Wages and benefits of the workers were significantly increased and around 200 contractual workers were given regular status.

We owe this victorious struggle to the unity of NXP workers and the strong support of the local and international community. Our struggle in NXP was embraced by other Filipino workers as their own struggle. We received strong support from various organizations and individuals across the globe. Among those who supported our fight are our Belgian brothers and sisters, and we especially thank our friends in Sama-Sama who visited and integrated with our union members, gave donations to our fight and helped popularized our issues.

The issues we faced, and continue to face, in NXP is common to all the workers in the Philippines and globally. We suffer the same attacks from companies and governments in their complicity to extract super-profits from our labor.

Our struggle in NXP is but part of the struggle of the Filipino people to defend their democratic rights. It is part of the global struggle of workers against companies and governments to recognize and implement fundamental rights of labor. To win our fight, it is important to link our struggle with that of the other oppressed."